Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue (KBRFR) successfully pulled a woman from the Columbia River early Wednesday morning.
The call came in just after midnight, at 12:30 a.m., and shortly before 1 a.m. the rescue was complete.
“We were able to get the boat in the water in short order and successfully rescue,” KBRFR Fire Chief Dan Derby told the Trail Times.
According to the KBRFR report, seven firefighters from Company #4 in Trail responded to a call that a female was being swept down the Columbia River from the Trail boat launch.
Shortly before 1 a.m. the woman was located in the middle of the river near the end of Glenmerry.
The RCMP have not released any details on the identity of the woman or the circumstances which led to her being in the river.
Nevertheless, the successful rescue was largely due to the KBRFR’s quick response with its boat.
“Generally we can get the boat in the water in under 10 minutes,” said Derby.
“By the time we got to her she had gone down stream a fair ways. It was one of those nights when it was great to have that boat resource in our community and working together with the RCMP and BC Ambulance.”
Locating someone in the Columbia River during the middle of the night was another challenge the KBRFR crew successfully completed.
“We upgraded the lights on the boat about a year or two ago with new LED lights,” explained Derby. “And that makes a big difference for searching at night.
“We had some information and just started a search grid. And it was a successful rescue.”
The RCMP have not replied to questions from the Trail Times by press time.